Julian Borger: “We’ve Proved that Change is Possible” – but Serbia Protesters Unsure of Next Move, The Guardian, February 3, 2025.
It was the last working day of the week, November 1, 2024. The train station in Novi Sad, a vibrant, multicultural city, was busier than usual. At 11:52 a.m., the station’s canopy collapsed, killing 15 people. Shock, grief, and anger spread throughout the country. A protest movement developed from vigils and traffic blockades, led by students, who have since demanded accountability, transparency and responsibility from the government. The tragedy in Novi Sad happened against a backdrop of long-standing systemic corruption, increasing poverty and widespread human rights violations. At the same time, Serbia has become an attractive country for foreign investors in recent years and has moved closer to the West in a somewhat contradictory way. Belgrade has supplied ammunition to Ukraine for $800 million without joining the sanctions against Russia. There is a lively arms trade between Serbia and Israel (here,here and here). Last summer, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was present when the EU forged a “lithium pact” despite civil protests in Serbia and despite resistance from environmental activists: a framework agreement on lithium mining for the production of electric vehicles. The EU wants to reduce its lithium dependence on China by cooperating with the corrupt and authoritarian rulers in Belgrade. Serbia’s president was part of the Milošević government and shares responsibility for the war crimes (including genocide) committed during the Yugoslav Wars.
Why are we in Germany being told so little about the student protests in Serbia? (Exceptions here, here, here, here or here). Why are there no statements from EU politicians?
On February 3, 2025, an article appeared in the Guardian that vividly captures the complexity of these protests, which have been taking place daily for three months, and addresses the silence of the EU. It is difficult for some of us who live in Germany in the diaspora not to think of this silence together with the silence that ignores the genocidal horrors in Gaza and the West Bank.